All things considered, it had been a good day and a good night.

“Now the Elector Princes Council has finally begun.”

“All the lords gathered on time, and all the lords agreed on the agenda, did they not?”

“They say at the previous council, agreeing on the agenda alone took nearly two months.”

People tilted their cups and burst into laughter.

For the citizens of Rebellion and the soldiers of each house alike, it was a rare peace after so long.

Peleus of Astreos had retired, Rikenta’s Patriarch had changed, the conflict between the Myriad Star Church and the great houses had surfaced, and mutant demonic beasts had appeared.

Only unease had continued for several years.

So the mere fact that the descendants of the heroes who had saved the world from the evil Ancient Empire had gathered again to discuss the Empire’s stability was enough to bring people relief.

That day, the mayor of Rebellion personally gave a speech from the steps of the government office.

“Set aside your worries for today! The Elector Princes of the Empire have gathered in this city. This official shall release supplies, so citizens, rejoice and enjoy yourselves. For today alone, Rebellion is the heart of the Empire!”

The citizens answered with thunderous applause.

That day, an impromptu night market poured light along the riverside.

Had Kyrie known, he would have stopped it even by grabbing someone by the collar.

In the middle of the festival packed with crowds—

[“-----!”]

A mental wave erupted.

Outwardly, the person looked like an ordinary scholar.

“Knowledge shall be power!”

His cry echoed as though tearing apart the atmosphere itself.

“If power is justice, then ignorance is sin!”

He was a bachelor of the Hall of Purity.

One who accepted mad knowledge and revealed the power gained from it without restraint.

“U-uaagh, my head!”

“What is this, why are my ears… growling?”

People clutched their heads and rolled across the ground.

“What’s wrong with you? Snap out of it!”

“Grab him! Someone grab him!”

Their eyes gleamed black, and black veins rose all over their bodies.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

Someone crawled along the ground, then soon lunged toward a neighbor.

“No! Noooo!”

“Urrrgh!”

Blood sprayed.

Human screams changed into animal howls.

“Run! Run! Everyone’s gone mad!”

“Where? Everywhere is blocked!”

Song and laughter vanished, and only screams and wailing filled the plaza.

The festival of the apocalypse had begun.

“What is happening?”

“It’s a riot!”

“The boys are all out right now!”

The situation was no different for Rebellion’s soldiers.

It had been a fatal mistake to disperse soldiers to every noble lodging in order to watch and also escort the blood relatives of the great houses.

Into the depths of the barracks, where vigilance was weaker than usual, unfamiliar shadows slipped in.

They were masters of the Hall of Purity, its middle managers.

[“-----!”]

As a mental wave rose, visions of tentacles and feathers flashed amid intangible black energy.

“Aaaaaagh!”

“M-my head!”

The soldiers collapsed onto the ground and convulsed.

Soon, feathers began sprouting from their shoulders, the backs of their hands, their eyes, and their mouths.

Glossy feathers mixed with blood tore through skin and surged outward.

“Y-you bastards, surely…”

The arm of a soldier trying to grab his comrade hardened and twisted like bone.

He was no longer human either.

An officer who had avoided the direct hit watched the things that had once been his subordinates from behind, then squeezed his eyes shut when he saw a long centipede burst from one subordinate’s eye.

“No, no. Please come back. Come back!”

There was no chance they would return.

“They say a riot has broken out.”

“Suppress it at once! It must be suppressed before the Elector Princes are caught up in it!”

An urgent report flew to the public security commissioner at the official residence.

“What? Even the soldiers…?”

“Yes! More than half have already turned!”

“Half?”

“Th-that is, because too many people came out for today’s festival…”

“Why in the world… no. This is no time to ask why. Gather the heavy cavalry. We must scatter that crowd before all of them turn into mad rioters!”

He devised countermeasures within the bounds of common sense.

After all, believing a report that people had turned into monsters from a single shout was itself unreasonable.

That common sense collapsed before long.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The ground shook.

The windows of the official residence trembled.

Documents and furnishings spilled onto the floor.

“…What is that sound?”

The public security commissioner looked toward the window.

A monster stood outside.

It was a monster with flayed skin, exposing red muscle.

Its neck was abnormally long, and white bone tentacles hung and fluttered from every vertebra.

“Wh-what is that…?”

The public security commissioner’s voice cracked thinly.

A doctoral candidate of the Hall of Purity stretched out four bone tentacles like lightning.

Crash!

“Aaaaaagh!”

The window shattered, and the public security commissioner’s body burst apart like a chunk of meat.

Red flesh scattered across the walls and floor.

And in the tent of Kyrie’s army encampment—

They’re here.

Kyrie opened his left eye.

In the darkness, a blue eye shone.

Screams came riding on the wind.

“Joi.”

“Yes.”

“Prepare for battle. It will be a long night.”

“I thought it might be, yes.”

I called Joi and let out a low sigh.

I knew this would happen.

I did not know this would happen.

In a city of eight hundred thousand people, it was impossible to search every single person.

There was no way to know who belonged to the Hall of Purity, nor exactly when they would come.

Moreover, I absolutely could not reveal that the information had come from Golden Rose.

‘The Hall of Purity is coming.’

‘From whom did you hear that?’

‘I heard it from Golden Rose.’

‘I see. Why did you spare her?’

It was obvious that an insane situation like that would unfold.

What mattered was using this situation to my advantage, even slightly.

And proving the effectiveness of the elixir of sacred radiance.

Still, I wished I could have obtained more.

Due to the nature of mental waves, one less ally meant one more enemy.

“My lord.”

Joi unfolded a map of Rebellion on the operations table.

Woong.

I steadied my breathing and raised mana.

The stigma in my left eye shone, and current spread through my nerves.

Electromagnetic waves stretched in every direction and wrapped around all of Rebellion.

My Thunderbolt Body had now surpassed 2,300%.

Even originally, I had been quite proficient at Bio-radar.

When I deployed an authority that had reached the extremes of both innate and acquired power, my mind filled with white lines against a black background.

The outlines of city walls, the approaches to plazas, and the shapes of insulae were clearly engraved.

On the rooftops of each tall stone building stood the Blue Knights, knights, retainers, and attendants I had sent ahead.

At that moment, one idea suddenly crossed my mind.

Could I use Telephone Conversation at the same time?

I checked my stigma.

Five minutes had recovered again.

It seemed midnight had passed.

I immediately connected to Vane.

He was on the rooftop of an insula near the southern plaza where I had dueled Tyren earlier that evening.

“Sir Vane?”

‘Your Highness?’

His confusion and joy were transmitted simultaneously.

The silhouette detected by Bio-radar overlapped before my eyes.

Behind the crowd pouring into the plaza, one figure walked calmly.

He wore a white gown.

I traced the edge of his mouth with my net of electromagnetic waves.

He was clearly smiling.

“Ahead. Distance, approximately eight hundred fifty meters. The one wearing the gown.”

‘Confirmed.’

Vane steadied his breath for a moment, then gripped a javelin with his mechanical arm.

I ended Telephone Conversation and focused on the map again.

“Frey?”

‘Kiri-Kiri?’

Frey’s location was near the Rebellion soldiers’ lodgings.

Already, eroded soldiers were pouring out in droves.

“There are too many. Fall back slowly and join Hari. Joi will send the ballista troops that way.”

‘Got it, confirmed!’

Cutting the connection, I turned to Joi beside me.

“You heard that, right? Send them quickly.”

“Yes, yes! I understand, yes I do. But where?”

Tap.

I moved a piece on the map with my finger.

After confirming the location, Joi ran out.

I connected again.

“Hari, block the third alley on the left.”

‘I understand!’

“Daniel, clear out the ones attached to the north gate. Paisen, circle east and strike the rear.”

‘Orders received!’

Tap. Tap. Tap.

With each Telephone Conversation, pieces moved across the table map.

“Vane, again. Large mutant demonic beast 1.2 kilometers ahead. Can Guided Lightning reach it?”

‘Easily. I shall show you a hit.’

And soon the real troops moved exactly as they had on that map.

I poured out instructions for quite some time.

When I checked the stigma, Telephone Conversation had consumed about three minutes.

This was good enough.

“What kind of technique is that?”

When I turned back, Blue Hydrangea was staring blankly.

“Heh heh, this is our lord, yes it is. So what authority is it, exactly?”

After bragging to Blue Hydrangea, Joi asked me, revealing she actually knew nothing.

“Telephone Conversation. I succeeded recently. Because of neural overheating, the limit is five minutes per day.”

I answered casually, then belted the crystalline holy sword and Wall-Breaking Longsword at my left and right waist.

Joi brought over a leather harness hung thick with throwing daggers and Balsam Shot and helped me put it on.

“Frey. Fall back to the southern plaza. It’s time for your real work.”

‘Confirmed, confirmed!’

I sent the final Telephone Conversation from inside the tent and walked out.

Step. Step. Step.

Now was the time for tactics, not strategy.

Of course, I had no intention of throwing myself alone into that chaotic city.

“Let’s go.”

“Sisters!”

Blue Hydrangea and the one thousand marksman school mercenaries would protect me.

Step. Step. Step. Step. Step.

Red coats marched into the chaotic city.

Around Andromeda’s encampment.

“Hold them back! Do not allow even a scratch on Her Highness the Grand Prince Regent!”

Nereus roared like an enraged lion.

His golden hair clung to his shoulders, soaked with blood and sweat, but he gripped his sword and stood at the front.

He had already heard about the Hall of Purity’s attack itself from Kyrie.

But actually experiencing it was far more chaotic.

There were things in the world that remained difficult even when one knew about them.

In truth, everything in the world was like that.

“Your Excellency! Those appear to be ordinary citizens!”

“Hmph! Can you confirm that with the naked eye? Is there any law that says another mouth cannot be attached under those clothes?”

“N-no, sir!”

“Then kill them all! Fire the ballistae! Fire!”

And Nereus was also someone who “did it even when it was difficult.”

“Your Excellency! Request for support!”

“Where? I will go!”

A chaotic melee in city streets where even messengers could barely come and go.

All around, isolated subordinates fell one after another to mental waves.

Nereus personally ran from street to street, sweeping away enemies.

This is exhausting.

The moment mental waves erupted, ordinary soldiers effectively became useless in combat.

If they merely avoided being eroded and turned into demonic beasts, that alone was a profitable result.

Even knights struck by mental waves stiffened for a moment, and enemies slipped into that opening.

The only person Nereus could trust was himself.

“Fall back to the southern plaza!”

Nereus gritted his teeth and gave the order.

His breathing was rough.

“Mass Guided Lightning bombardment four hundred meters ahead!”

“Hm?”

At that moment, an unfamiliar command cut through the air.

Kwakakakakang!

Blue flashes split the southern sky and fell.

Accurate coordinates, accurate timing.

In an instant, the path of advance opened.

Nereus’s eyes shook violently.

Kyrie?

That was the movement of Kyrie’s Blue Knights.

A perfectly coordinated breakthrough without an inch of error, command that remained unshaken even amid this chaos.

“……”

“Your Excellency?”

Nereus closed his mouth for a moment.

Messengers shouldn’t even be able to come and go.

Confusion, absurdity, and an inexplicable sense of defeat tightened around his throat.

What absurd authority is he handling now?

Those words never left his mouth.

“Beyond that building!”

Paisen cut through the darkness with retainers and turned the corner of a building.

A master of the Hall of Purity stood there, white gown fluttering in the night wind.

“Do these worthless foot soldiers defy the Hall of Knowledge?”

His voice was arrogant, yet carried the weight of clear intellect.

“Ignorance is sin. You are now proving that sin with your own bodies. I shall teach you your essence, so look properly and learn!”

The master’s lower jaw split into three.

[“----!”]

A mental wave burst forth.

The illusion of translucent black tentacles swayed.

“Now! Do you understand who you are?”

The master shouted arrogantly.

Dizzy.

Paisen’s vision warped.

Her heart beat wildly.

Yet the starlight poured into her by the elixir of sacred radiance held her center like water in a harbor.

But I can endure it.

Grit.

Paisen held onto her mind and tightened her grip on her sword.

The group of retainers and attendants following her did the same.

Whoosh!

“Throw!”

At Paisen’s command, the attendants threw javelins.

Whoooosh! Whoooosh! Whoooosh!

“Huh?”

The master wore an expression of disbelief until the moment those javelins pierced his shoulder and stomach.

He could not understand how they were capable of such a highly skilled action as throwing javelins even after being struck by a mental wave.

Thud!

“You ask whether I understand who I am? Of course I do. I am Paisen, who will become a Blue Knight.”

Paisen whispered as she cut through the master’s neck.

Chapter 214

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